AUGUSTA, Maine (Legal Newsline) – The race for U.S. Senate in Maine could help Democrats take a majority and, in turn, help the personal injury lawyer-husband of a Democrat candidate who has taken almost $1 million from lawyers for her campaign.
And one of those donors is the firm of Benjamin Gideon, husband of Senate candidate Sara Gideon, who is currently the speaker of the Maine House. Benjamin is a partner at Berman & Simmons and, as the Washington Examiner notes, the firm is currently trying to find clients to sue veterans’ homes over coronavirus outbreaks.
Her husband’s firm is among her top donors. Lawyers there have given her $33,778 – part of a total of $995,409 that has come from lawyers and firms.
The current Republican-controlled Senate is intent on giving the business community protection from those types of lawsuits except in cases of gross negligence, but Democrats will be resisting that effort. If nothing is passed this year and Democrats take control of the Senate, those protections won't happen in 2021.
Plaintiffs lawyers are among those who stand to gain the most from having the Democrats they support gain majorities in both the Senate and House - not to mention putting Joe Biden in the White House.
Last year, the Democrat-led House attempted to push through a measure regarding the chemical PFAS that would have increased liability to countless businesses.
Senate Republicans prevented that from happening. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic presents the next battle over a possible litigation explosion. Colleges and universities are now facing class action lawsuits that say they should refund part of each student’s tuition because those students can’t enjoy the full campus life they signed up for.
Those same institutions say they need protections from lawsuits if they ever want to reopen campuses.
In Chicago, a Walmart worker sued the company after coming down with the disease, and previous Legal Newsline coverage noted a Tennessee law firm is signing up clients to sue a nursing home over an outbreak.
While her husband's firm signs up clients to sue veterans' homes, Gideon drew criticism for skipping a debate this week. The primary election is in a month, with the winner to likely face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in the general election.
Her husband’s firm has been funding Democratic causes over the past 17 years and has given to the House Democratic Campaign Committee of Maine ($37,250) and the Senate Democratic Campaign of Maine ($31,000).
Gideon has raised almost $15 million for her campaign so far and has spent $10 million of that.
Among notable plaintiffs lawyers giving to Gideon are:
-Peter Kraus of the Dallas asbestos firm Waters & Kraus ($5,600);
-Russell Budd of Baron & Budd in Dallas ($5,133.33);
-Kurt Arnold of Arnold & Itkin in Houston ($2,800); and
-Eliabeth Cabrasser of Leiff Cabraser ($4,200).